Best fe1 replacement shocks??
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 148
Likes: 37
From: St. Louis
Best fe1 replacement shocks??
Use the car as a GT, not a sports car. Want good control but good ride also. Any opinions? I see Monroe, Gabriel, and AC Delco offer reasonably priced shocks. Anyone use them or have opinions about them? Or another recommendation? Thanks,
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2,803
Likes: 358
From: Northville, MI
Using the Monroe, base AC Delco, etc would be replacing the same shocks he currently has. The Z51 would be the next step up and combined with the FE1 springs would present a smooth ride with slightly better handling.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 148
Likes: 37
From: St. Louis
I'm an ex street racer (back country roads, not drag racing) who's mellowed with age. Anyway, I think Corvettes are too large to be proper 'sports cars'--as are most of the competition--Porsche, Ferrari, etc. But they're sensational GT (grand touring) cars. For my normal 7/10 or 8/10 driving habits, I think a GT is the car to have. I think a base FE1 suspension will handle 90% as well as a Z51 or even Z06 Corvette--on the street. I'm not prepared to put up with a rough ride for the 1 percent of the time I will push the limits on the street (anymore......) Yes, the springs and stabilizer bars of the FE1 are softer. But if you put firm shocks on it, it's still going to ride somewhat rough. I just want the handling as it was when the car was new. This past weekend, I was in the country and had a little relapse. I was doing 110 mph (open countryside, good visibility, not unsafe), at one point, and the car was 'floating' a bit. I realized that the stock dampers--even though the car has only 25,000 miles on it--are still 21 years old. I tried to find the original OEM shocks but could not. I think these Monroes may be the closest thing I can find to OEM. But I'm open to other suggestions.
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 1,421
Likes: 302
From: CSRA, SC
The seals around the piston inside are what fails and you won't be able to observe that failure but when you take them off put your weight on them to collapse them. If it's easy and they don't extend themselves back then they were toast.
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